North America

Business magnate Elon Musk has avoided what would have been the largest judgment in US history on an individual executive.

The device is described as a heat engine with no moving parts that is able to produce power from a heat source of between 1,900 to 2,400 C. This concept is known as thermal energy grid storage (TEGS) and consists of a low-cost, grid-scale storage technology that uses thermophotovoltaic cells to convert heat to electricity above 2,000 C.

The latest update to the Solar Energy Industries Association’s (SEIA) survey for solar workers and companies shows drastic outcomes for the industry if tariffs are imposed on countries under investigation.

Solar might be more efficient than nuclear energy to supply power for a six-person extended mission to Mars that will involve a 480-day stay on the planet’s surface before returning to Earth, according to new US research.

Fire crews in Chandler, Arizona, sent robots into a building at the Salt River Project where a 10 MW battery was smouldering.

PV ICE uses the latest data from the solar industry to model the flow of PV materials over the next several decades, helping to predict the effects of different market trends, technological developments, and government policies.

With its promise of cheap, easy ‘god molecules’ flowing inexhaustibly from the ground, it’s no wonder natural hydrogen is piquing interest. Sometimes referred to as ‘gold’ or ‘white’ hydrogen, Avon McIntyre, executive director of HyTerra, an Australian company in the space, told pv magazine Australia natural hydrogen projects should have smaller carbon footprints than sprawling green hydrogen plays and, moreover, would be ready quicker. Enticing as it sounds, unknowns remain.

The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) final report on the future of storage presents “key learnings” from a series of six in-depth studies.

The device is based on a standard, two-electrode electrochemical cell containing conductive polymers, a carbon-graphene hybrid, and a non-flammable liquid electrolyte. The battery cells were tested to perform for 12,000 cycles at 100% depth of discharge.

Academics from MIT and Stanford who have posited a new production method for perovskite solar cells have also developed a machine learning system which benefits from the experience of seasoned workers – and they’ve posted it online for anyone to use.